---
slug: /experiments/remote-taskfiles/
---

# Remote Taskfiles (#1317)

:::caution

All experimental features are subject to breaking changes and/or removal _at any
time_. We strongly recommend that you do not use these features in a production
environment. They are intended for testing and feedback only.

:::

:::info

To enable this experiment, set the environment variable:
`TASK_X_REMOTE_TASKFILES=1`. Check out [our guide to enabling experiments
][enabling-experiments] for more information.

:::

This experiment allows you to specify a remote Taskfile URL when including a
Taskfile. For example:

```yaml
version: '3'

includes:
  my-remote-namespace: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/my-org/my-repo/main/Taskfile.yml
```

This works exactly the same way that including a local file does. Any tasks in
the remote Taskfile will be available to run from your main Taskfile via the
namespace `my-remote-namespace`. For example, if the remote file contains the
following:

```yaml
version: '3'

tasks:
  hello:
    silent: true
    cmds:
      - echo "Hello from the remote Taskfile!"
```

and you run `task my-remote-namespace:hello`, it will print the text: "Hello
from the remote Taskfile!" to your console.

The Taskfile location is processed by the templating system, so you can
reference environment variables in your URL if you need to add authentication.
For example:

```yaml
version: '3'

includes:
  my-remote-namespace: https://{{.TOKEN}}@raw.githubusercontent.com/my-org/my-repo/main/Taskfile.yml
```

`TOKEN=my-token task my-remote-namespace:hello` will be resolved by Task to
`https://my-token@raw.githubusercontent.com/my-org/my-repo/main/Taskfile.yml`

## Security

Running commands from sources that you do not control is always a potential
security risk. For this reason, we have added some checks when using remote
Taskfiles:

1. When running a task from a remote Taskfile for the first time, Task will
   print a warning to the console asking you to check that you are sure that you
   trust the source of the Taskfile. If you do not accept the prompt, then Task
   will exit with code `104` (not trusted) and nothing will run. If you accept
   the prompt, the remote Taskfile will run and further calls to the remote
   Taskfile will not prompt you again.
2. Whenever you run a remote Taskfile, Task will create and store a checksum of
   the file that you are running. If the checksum changes, then Task will print
   another warning to the console to inform you that the contents of the remote
   file has changed. If you do not accept the prompt, then Task will exit with
   code `104` (not trusted) and nothing will run. If you accept the prompt, the
   checksum will be updated and the remote Taskfile will run.

Sometimes you need to run Task in an environment that does not have an
interactive terminal, so you are not able to accept a prompt. In these cases you
are able to tell task to accept these prompts automatically by using the `--yes`
flag. Before enabling this flag, you should:

1. Be sure that you trust the source and contents of the remote Taskfile.
2. Consider using a pinned version of the remote Taskfile (e.g. A link
   containing a commit hash) to prevent Task from automatically accepting a
   prompt that says a remote Taskfile has changed.

Task currently supports both `http` and `https` URLs. However, the `http`
requests will not execute by default unless you run the task with the
`--insecure` flag. This is to protect you from accidentally running a remote
Taskfile that is via an unencrypted connection. Sources that are not protected
by TLS are vulnerable to [man-in-the-middle attacks][man-in-the-middle-attacks]
and should be avoided unless you know what you are doing.

## Caching & Running Offline

Whenever you run a remote Taskfile, the latest copy will be downloaded from the
internet and cached locally. If for whatever reason, you lose access to the
internet, you will still be able to run your tasks by specifying the `--offline`
flag. This will tell Task to use the latest cached version of the file instead
of trying to download it. You are able to use the `--download` flag to update
the cached version of the remote files without running any tasks. You are able
to use the `--clear-cache` flag to clear all cached version of the remote files
without running any tasks.

By default, Task will timeout requests to download remote files after 10 seconds
and look for a cached copy instead. This timeout can be configured by setting
the `--timeout` flag and specifying a duration. For example, `--timeout 5s` will
set the timeout to 5 seconds.

By default, the cache is stored in the Task temp directory, represented by the
`TASK_TEMP_DIR` [environment variable](../reference/environment.mdx) You can
override the location of the cache by setting the `TASK_REMOTE_DIR` environment
variable. This way, you can share the cache between different projects.

{/* prettier-ignore-start */}
[enabling-experiments]: ./experiments.mdx#enabling-experiments
[man-in-the-middle-attacks]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack
{/* prettier-ignore-end */}
